Degradation of basement membranes is a crucial step in tumor invasion and metastasis (Liotta, 1986). Type IV collagenase is an important proteolytic enzyme involved in the invasion process. This enzyme has been closely linked to the metastatic potential of tumors in human and murine tumor models (Liotta et. al., 1980; Bonfil et al., 1989) and is augmented following the genetic induction of the metastatic phenotype (Muschel et. al., 1985; Garbisa et. al., 1987).
The rapid detection and quantitation of this enzyme in biologic substrates would enable further exploration of the correlation between enzyme levels of type IV collagenase and the biologic behavior of tumor tissues.